Manchester United are struggling to sell players for one clear reason

For all of the riches Saudi Arabia's minted football clubs are throwing around Europe at the moment, none of it seems to be heading towards Old Trafford.

The exodus of players from big European teams to the Saudi Pro League has been one of the stories of the summer transfer window and plenty of clubs have benefited, with Chelsea notable winners in the Premier League.

The Blues are easing their own financial fair play concerns by selling some of their unwanted players to Saudi Arabia and, in particular, the country's four biggest clubs, who have seen investment from the Public Investment Fund (PIF) recently. But none of that cash has yet come the way of Manchester United, who have flops of their own to offload.

United are often criticised for the difficulty they have in selling players, but the reasons for that are manifold and it looks to be an area they are improving under Erik ten Hag. The decision to sell James Garner last summer was ruthless but came about because his value was high after a successful loan spell, while he wasn't considered close enough to having an impact on the first team. Although the fees have been small, similar calls have been made with Zidane Iqbal and Ethan Laird in this window.

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It is senior players that need to be offloaded next though and this is something that can be a little more difficult. For all the criticism that comes United's way in this department, the reality is they aren't a selling club.

There are only really two reasons why they would sell a player; either that player wants to move and is forcing the issue (which usually means a deal is easy) or they are being sold because they haven't made the